Dorothy Iannone and Alejandra Pombo Su

16.06.2026 - 13.09.2026
With Alejandra Pombo Su, Dorothy Iannone

Dorothy Iannone: The Berlin Beauties in dialogue with Alejandra Pombo Su

In the ink drawing series The Berlin Beauties, Dorothy Iannone (1933, Boston – 2022, Berlin) combines lyrical texts and intimate drawings into an exploration of the everyday, spiritual, and intellectual dimensions of love, desire, and sexual relationships, while articulating an autonomous female perspective.

The lover addressed in the narrative drawing cycle is an imaginary figure inspired by Georges Jacques Danton, a leading figure of the French Revolution who was himself guillotined in 1794. Biographical references suggest, however, that Iannone’s male muse alludes actually to the German Fluxus artist Dieter Roth.

The U.S.-born artist Dorothy Iannone, who settled in (West) Berlin in 1976 following a one-year artist residency, created the series between 1977 and 1978. The paper works mounted on wood were subsequently published in 1978 as an artist’s book. The 70-part series entered the collection of the Kupferstichkabinett as early as 1988, yet is presented here for the first time: as the manifestation of a body of work that seeks not to provoke, but to open, liberate, and heal. Dorothy Iannone’s reference to the New York Statue of Liberty — officially Liberty Enlightening the World (1886) — on the poster for her 1977 exhibition at Mike Steiner’s Studiogalerie in West Berlin expands the established symbol of political self-determination and democracy into a plea for sexual freedom.

The selection of Iannone’s works is accompanied by drawings and a performance by Alejandra Pombo Su (b. 1979, Santiago de Compostela). During her one-year residency as a fellow of the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program – as was once Dorothy Iannone – Pombo Su engages with Iannone’s legacy and expands it through her interest in the connection between human and animal life. Despite belonging to different generations, both artists work in Berlin with their own vulnerability, exploring moments of rapture, ritual, and transformation through drawing.

On July 4, 2026, at 3 pm, Alejandra Pombo Su’s performance Under Honey will take place in the exhibition.

Curated by Nóra Lukács

04.07., 3:00 pm
Performance Under Honey by Alejandra Pombo Su, in collaboration with the Feature Chor Berlin, a women’s choir based in Berlin.
Kupferstichkabinett and Cranach-Saal at the Gemäldegalerie am Kulturforum

04.07., 2:00 pm
Guided tour with Melanie Roumiguière and Nóra Lukács, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Kupferstichkabinett

The exhibition at Kupferstichkabinett featuring drawings by Dorothy Iannone and Alejandra Pombo Su runs from June 16 until September 13 2026.

Kupferstichkabinett
Johanna-und-Eduard-Arnhold-Platz / Matthäikirchplatz
10785 Berlin
Tickets 

Image credits
left: Dorothy Iannone, from the series ‘The Berlin Beauties’, 1977–78, black ink, traces of pencil on white drawing paper © Estate of Dorothy Iannone Photo: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kupferstichkabinett / Dietmar Katz right: Alejandra Pombo Su, from the series ‘My Year of Devotion’, 2025–2026, 18 drawings, mixed media on paper Photo: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / Kupferstichkabinett